Hat protector



June 20, 1950 l. J. LEVY v 2,512,026

-HAT PROTECTOR Fi led Jan. 10, 1947 INVENTOR.

J. i5 [gm/12$ [ez/j/ Patented June 20, 1950 UNITED STATES PTENT OFFICE HAT PROTECFIQR Irving J. 'Levy, Brooklyn, N Y.

Application January 10, 1947, Serial No. 721,314

3 Claims. l

This invention relates to ,hat covers or protectors, and more particularly to the type adapted to be removably applied to a hat to protect the same ,from-rain, snow or inclement weather. I am aware that prior to the present invention, hat covers have been contemplated for thesame purpose, but the present invention involves improvements and features which clearly distinguish itfrom the protectors of the prior art. In the prior devices, the use of relatively expensive materials was contemplated; such devices also contemplated the employment of elastic contracting means about the edge of the cover, and such .means not only tended to distort or misshape the brimof the hat, and particularly when the cover was applied to a socalled soft hat, but also involved the provision of a hem in which the elastic cord was inserted as well as the expense of the cord and the operations required to apply it to the cover or protector.

Many of the known devices in this art were made of such materials and were so constructed that they were intended for continuous or repeated use, and were thus relatively expensive, with the result that a general or universal use of such devices has never taken place.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a hat cover or protector which will be easily made of inexpensive material; which will require unskilled workmanship to fabricate in quantity; which will require-no elastic contracting means for holding it in place upon the hat and which can accordingly be made and sold so inexpensively that it can be used but once if desired and then discarded.

Still-another object of the invention is to provide a hat cover or protector which can be so inexpensively made that the same might p-be given gratis with the sale of a hat; or it can be readily handled by newsstands, stationary stores and other places making it readily available to the hat wearer whenever a rain or snow storm occurs.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hat protector of the character described which may be made of such material that it can be produced without material folds or creasings and of very thin sheet material, so that when the cover or protector is not in use it may be folded into a compact packet and stored inside of the hat behind the sweat band thereof without inconvenience to the wearer.

'lhese and other objects are accomplished by the invention, a more particular description or which will hereinafter be set forth and pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention'is disclosed, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a hat of the felt or so-called soft type to which the improved cover or protector has been applied; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the protector; Fig. 3 is a View looking at the under side of the hat and the applied protector; Fig. 4 is a sectional view through a portion of the protector, and Fig. 5 is a view of the portion of the inturned edge of the protector, showing a modified construction.

With reference to the structure shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, l indicates the body of the improved hat protector or cover. The same is preferably composed of a vvery thin, flexible waterproof, or at least water-resistant, sheet material of inexpensive naturef The materials made of regenerated cellulose, or vinyls or acetates and numerous others, as well as many examples of thin, water-resistant papers, are suitable for the purpose, a desirable attribute of the material employed being such that it is inexpensive so that the protector or cover can be if desired, thrown away after a single use. The material employed for the protector or cover is preferabl transparent, although it is obvious that it might be used in various colors to match, for example, the color of the hat to which it is applied.

If the material used for the fabrication of the cover or. protector is of a thermoplastic nature, the cover can be formed from a single sheet of the material, formed, stretched, moulded or shaped over a suitable block. This will result in a cover with very few, if any wrinkles or pleats, so that the bulk of thecover, especially when it is. folded or compacted into a small flat packet when not in use, will be reduced to a minimum and a packet of such nature easily stored within the hat behind the sweat band thereof.

It is desirable that the cover or protector shall conform to the shape of the hat as closely as possible and hence in the form shown, thesame is provided with a crown portion indicated at 2, which at its base, flares outwardly at 3 to provide the brim-covering portion 4. Portion 4 is, at its periphery, formed with the fold 5 to provide an inturned flange or rim 6 which underlies the brim ii of the hat in the manner clearly seen in Figs. 1 and 3. The infolded disposition of the flange 0r rim 5 i such that an annular pocket or channel l4 (Fig. 4) is provided between it and the brim-covering portion 4. The brim of the hat is inserted in this pocket l4 through the opening 9 defined by the edge I of the inturned flange or rim 6, and since said opening 7 is of less diameter than the perimeter of the hat brim l I, it is obvious that once the edge portion of the hat brim is inserted within the pocket lithe flexibility of the brim will tend to hold it therein and hence retain the cover or protector in place upon the hat. While the cover is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, as so shaped to conform closely to the shape of the hat, it can also be made to more loosely fit the hat, as indicated by the dot-and-dash lines 8 in Fig. 1.

The edge fold is well-defined so that'the inturned flange or rim 6 is permanently infolded and retains such infolded position without the use of elastic contracting means or other holding means about the edge I. Said edge 1 may, if the nature of the sheet material used for the fabrication of the cover or protector requires it, be turned over or provided with some suitable inexpensive edge reinforcement to prevent the edge I from too readily tearing when the brim of the hat is being inserted into or withdrawn from within the pocket I 4. v

Since the brim H of the usual soft hat is flexible, it can be readily flexed to permit of its insertion under the flange or rim 6 to thereby reach its disposition within the pocket l4 and, as above pointed out, the tendency of the brim of the hat to assume its normally relatively flat condition, will hold it within the pocket 14,.and the cover or protector will thus not be readily dislodged from its position over the hat. In the case of a hat with a non-flexible brim, such as a stiff straw o derby hat, the inturned flange or rim 6 can be split at one or more points, as indicated at [2 in Fig. 5, to permit the flange or rim to be opened outwardly sufflciently to bring it under such stiff brim. When the brim has thus been inserted in the pocket M, the split or splits l2 can each be closed by means of strips of adhesive tape 13 or other suitable removable and replaceable closure means. Such tape can be of the reusable pressure type, easily applied and removed without the use of moisture.

While I have herein shown the improved hat cover or protector as being made from a single section of sheet material, and have suggested the same as being molded from thermoplastic sheet material, other methods of manufacture are possible. For example, the device can be made of two sections, namely, a crown section and a brim-covering section, the two said sections being united at the point 3. The cover or protector may be gored or pleated where necessary to enable it to conform as closely as possible to the shape of the hat over which it is to be applied. The optimum sought is a protector of this character which shall be as seamless and pleatless as possible and which shall be without fastening or retaining means of any character, to hold itself in position on the hat by being shaped as closely as possible to conform to the shape of the hat andretained thereon by having a permanent non-extensible opening through which the brim of the hat is inserted and which is of less diameter than the perimeter of the brim of the hat. While the protector or cover is illustrated as used in connection with mens hats it is obvious that it can be readily used for womens hats without material modification.

Having described one embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

\ What I claim is:

1. A hat protector of the character described comprising a body portion provided with a crowncovering part, a brim-covering portion extending laterally therefrom, said brim-covering portion being provided at its periphery with a relatively inelastic inturned flange or rim defining a permanent, non-expansible opening through which the brim of a hat'is inserted to be positioned between said inturned flange or rim and the under side of the brim-covering portion.

" '2. A hat protector or'body composed of sheet material shaped to fit over the crown of a hat and the brim thereof, the protector having a peripheral edge defining a permanent fold from which an inwardly extending flange or rim ex- 7 tends, the inner edge of said flange or rim defining an opening of less diameter than the perimeter of the hat brim, whereby the hat brim must be flexed for insertion in back of said flange or rim, said flange or rim defining a permanent, non-expansible opening.

3. A hat protector composed of sheet material oiinelastic-nature shaped tofit over the crown of a hat and the flexible brim thereof, the protector having a peripheral edge defining a permanent fold from which an inwardly extending flange or rim extends, theirmer edge of said flange or rim defining an opening of less diameter than the perimeter of the flexible brim of the hat, the material of the 'flan'ge or rim around said opening being of inexpansible nature so that the opening is of a permanent, non-expansible character requiring flexing of the flexible brim of the hat to passthe same through said open-- ing and to position the edge of the hat brim in back of said flange o rim,

IRVING J. LEVY.

nnrsnsnons orrnn The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 463,150 GreatBritain Mar. 23, 1937 

